*******The contest is now over, thank you to our participants. We will be announcing the winners as soon as possible*******

Submissions open from Wednesday, December 16, 2009 to Sunday, January 3, 2010.

The festive season is here! Whether you call it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or something else, everybody needs a little holiday cheer in their life. And what better way to get into the holiday spirit than to add a little color to your costume or freshen up the decoration of your base!

That's right! In honor of the holidays, City of Heroes® is giving you the opportunity to show off your decorating prowess by putting together a costume or a base interior that will astonish and dazzle us!

This contest will have two (2) categories:

the most cheerful costume

the most cheerful base or base room (a minimum of one room must be decorated).

Your submission will be judged on originality, creativity, and the ability to achieve a Holiday theme.

If you choose to participate in the costume category, you will need to send us two (2) screenshots of your character (front and back).

If you choose to participate in the base category, you will need to send us two (2) screenshots of each room you've decorated (from one corner and from the opposite corner). Please note that we may need to arrange to visit your base in order to select the winning trio!

The total (not individual) size of screenshots should be 5MB or smaller and that they should be in .jpg format.

One entry per person ONLY will be accepted, so you will have to choose which category you'd like to enter!

So start decorating! We look forward to seeing how you celebrate the holidays in-game. Good luck!

City of Heroes® Holiday Contest Official Rules and Conditions

This contest is organized by NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited, who are identified in more detail in Section 9 of this document (the "Sponsors").

1. ENTRY

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. IF YOU ARE ENTERING THIS CONTEST AS A RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THIS CONTEST SHALL BE VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY UNITED STATES LAW.

This is a skill based contest based on the originality, creativity and the ability to achieve a Holiday theme of the entry. (the "Contest")

Participants must follow this method of entry:

1) Send an email to cohcontests@ncsoft.com with the subject heading "City of Heroes® Holiday Contest." Include the following information in English in the body of the email:

A. Your first and last name
B. Your age
C. Your location -- city, state/province, country
D. A contact phone number (this will only be used if we cannot contact you by email regarding this Contest)
E. Your full mailing address
F. The title of your submission
G. The sentences: "I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown and any comments which I may make about myself, this competition I provide for advertising and promotional activities. By submitting an entry to this competition, I accept and agree to be bound by the Official Terms and Conditions"

2) Attached to the email, two screenshots of your entry (front and back for costume submissions and from one corner and from the opposite corner for each base room you are submitting). These must be in .jpg format (non-.jpg formats will NOT be accepted). The total (not individual) size for both screenshots should be 5MB or smaller and should not be compressed at all .

By submitting an entry to the Contest, you accept and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and Conditions.

The use of copyrighted material or trademarks NOT owned by the Sponsors or yourself is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Your submission must not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or be libelous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law.

Any personal information given to the Sponsors when you enter this Contest will only be used to contact you in relation to this Contest. All information concerning non-winning entries will be deleted after the end of the Contest. The personal information concerning the winning entries will be only used in the context of this Contest and use of your entry as agreed between you and the Sponsor. This information will not be disclosed to any third party or used for any other purpose. You may exercise your rights of access and rectification of this information by writing to: cohcontests@ncsoft.com.

If you are a winner you hereby give Sponsors and their respective divisions, subsidiaries, affiliates, and agencies full permission, right and authority to use your likeness, photograph, name, hometown, and any comments that you may make/answer to questions Sponsors may provide, or any other information that you provide about yourself, the prize, the Contest, or City of Heroes®, for the purposes of advertising and promotion (in any media, including but not limited to in print media, television, film, video, radio, internet or otherwise) related to the Contest, City of Heroes® or each of the Sponsors, without any further notification or compensation to you other than that set out herein. Winner waives all rights of inspection and approval in relation to the foregoing.

All entries must be received via email prior to 11:59 PM (CST), Sunday, January 3, 2010 (the "Contest Conclusion") and must be in English. Entries which do not conform to these Official Rules and Conditions will not be accepted. The Contest is limited to one entry per person.

The Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, incorrect, unintelligible or misdirected entries, which will be void. Use of a false name, mailing address, or email account will disqualify an entry and the individual who submitted the entry. Use of obscenities, racist, sexist, hateful or other material or depictions that, in Sponsor's judgment, are inappropriate or offensive, will disqualify an entry. Sponsor is not responsible for hardware or software malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections, server unavailability due to technical, capacity constraints or other issues, or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, garbled or delayed electronic or other communications. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, can disqualify, from this Contest and/or any other contest conducted by Sponsor, any person who, in Sponsor's reasonable suspicion, tampers with the entry process or the operation of the web site. Sponsor has the right to terminate, suspend or modify this Contest, in whole or in part, at any time and without prior notice, if, in Sponsor's judgment, the Contest is altered, corrupted or cannot be completed as planned due to computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, technical failures, or other conditions beyond Sponsor's control, or at Sponsor's reasonable discretion. Incomplete entries are invalid, and entrants with incomplete entries will be disqualified.

2. ELIGIBILITY

To enter the contest, as of Wednesday, December 16, 2009 (a) you must be 13 years of age or older, (b) if you are a minor in your country of residence, you must provide the entry as set forth under 1.1 with your legal guardian's approval and you must provide written approval of your entry to the Contest, and consent to these Official Rules and Conditions by your legal guardian (this written approval shall be provided within 14 days after the receipt of request by the Sponsor), (c) you must have Internet access, an email account and access to a personal computer, and (d) you must be a resident of the United States (excluding the State of Rhode Island, and excluding Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, military installations and commonwealths), Canada (excluding Quebec) (Canadian residents will be required to answer an additional mathematical question in order to claim their prizes) and the United Kingdom.

Employees of Sponsor, and Sponsor's respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies and members of the immediate families (defined as parents, children, siblings and spouse, regardless of where they reside) or households of such employees are not eligible to enter the Contest.

3. DURATION

The contest period begins at 8:00 PM (CST) on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 and ends at 11:59 PM (CST) on Sunday, January 3, 2010.

4. SELECTION OF WINNING ENTRIES

The winning entries will be determined by representatives of each Sponsor and will be judged equally on the following criteria: , originality, creativity, and the ability to achieve a Holiday theme. Winners will be notified via e-mail and announced on the City of Heroes® web site on or about Thursday, January 28, 2010. Any and all decisions of the judges shall be final and binding in all respects.

5. PRIZES

1) Prizes description

The prize breakdown is as follows for the costume category:

One (1) First Place Winner Will Receive:

One (1) Set of 16 Hero and Villain Pins (Estimated retail value: $40.00)

One (1) Limited Edition 5 Year Anniversary T-Shirt created by player Syrusb (Estimated retail value: $25.00)

If a winner cannot be contacted via the email address he/she submitted with their entry to the Contest, or is successfully contacted by Sponsor and does not:

(i) sign and return to Sponsors within the time indicated, a Contract of Assignment in the form reproduced in Section 10 (or, in Canada, a Declaration of Compliance with Contest Rules)
(ii) refuses or is ineligible to accept the prize

then Sponsor reserves the right to award the prize to the next highest ranking entrant (a "Substitute Winner").

The Substitute Winner will be contacted as mentioned above and required to comply with the prizes awarding process described in this Section 5(2).

In the event the Substitute Winner cannot be contacted as mentioned above or does not comply with the prizes awarding process described in this Section 5(2) for a given prize, any such prize will not be awarded. Prizes are not transferable. No substitution of the prize for cash or other goods and services is permitted, except Sponsor reserves the right to provide a substitute prize of approximately equal value. Taxes on prizes (including, without limitation, income taxes), if any, are the sole responsibility of the individual winners. If a winner is under 18 or a minor in his or her state/province/country of residence, his or her parent or guardian must also sign any applicable releases and documentation.

Winners and runner-ups will have their entries and forum nickname (or real name in the absence of a subscription to the forum) and city/state or province/country of residence posted on the Official City of Heroes® Web Site (www.cityofheroes.com; http://eu.cityofheroes.com/en/) To showcase the competition winners, those who have reached the age of 18 may be asked to answer some questions, provide certain personal information or to send Sponsor a personal headshot photo but such winners will also be given an opportunity to decline to give such information without affecting his/her eligibility of the prize.

6. GENERAL CONDITIONS

By entering into the Contest, you:

(a) warrant that your entry is your own original work and that it does not violate any rights of any third party (including, without limitation, any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or is libelous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law);
(b) agree to assign to Sponsor all rights, title and interest, including, without limitation, copyright, if transferable, in or to your entry in the case that your entry is one of the winning entries.
(c) agree to be contacted by Sponsor or its agents by telephone, mail or e-mail; and
(d) agree to sign the documentation set forth in Section 5 above (and have your parent or guardian sign such documentation where applicable or requested by Sponsor), in the case that your entry is one of the winning entries.

Entries will not be returned. If your entry is a winning entry, you agree that Sponsor may post your submission on the Official City of Heroes® Web Site (www.cityofheroes.com; http://eu.cityofheroes.com/en/) at anytime during or after the Contest along with your user or forum name (or real name) and city/state or province/country of residence if you are 18 years of age or older or if your legal guardians have confirmed your participation.

Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may edit and modify any submission before posting.

You waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages. Except where prohibited, you agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved under the laws of the State of Washington. You assume sole liability for injuries, including personal injuries and/or damage to property or prize, caused or claimed to be caused by participating in this contest or the acceptance, loss, shipment, or use of any prize awarded. Sponsor is not responsible for any failure to contact entrants, whether due to technical or human error. All of Sponsor's decisions regarding the application and interpretation of the Rules are final.

In the event that you are resident in the United Kingdom, nothing in these Official Rules and Conditions shall limit or exclude Sponsor's liability for death or personal injury from Sponsor's negligence or fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. Subject to the foregoing, the Sponsors shall not be responsible for any liability, loss, damage, cost or expense sustained by you arising out of, or in connection, with your entry into this Contest or use of the prize unless caused by the Sponsors due to gross negligence or intent.

7. WINNERS LIST

The winners of this Contest will be posted on the Official City of Heroes® Web Site (www.cityofheroes.com; http://eu.cityofheroes.com/en/) no later than Thursday, January 28, 2009. A list of winners can also be obtained by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to City of Heroes Holiday Contest NC Interactive, Inc., 1501 4th Ave. Floor 20. Seattle, WA 98101, USA for U.S. and Canadian residents and City of Heroes Holiday Contest NCsoft Europe Limited, Mocatta House, Trafalgar Place, Brighton, BN1 4DU, England for European Residents. Residents of Canada and Europe may omit return postage.

8. SEVERABILITY

Should any condition contained in this Contract prove unenforceable, void or incomplete, the validity of the other conditions will remain unaffected.

CONTEST WINNER ASSIGNMENT AND RELEASE

This Contest Winner Assignment and Release is made and entered into on __________ 20__, by and between NC Interactive, Inc../NCsoft Europe Ltd. ("NCsoft") and _______________________, an individual residing at__________________________________________________________ ("Winner").
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, NCsoft conducted a contest titled the "City of Heroes® Holiday Contest" (the "Contest") in which entrants create a City of Heroes themed Holiday costume or decoration for a base room..
WHEREAS, NCsoft has selected Winner as a winner of the Contest.
WHEREAS, Winner owns all right, title and interest in and to the submission provided to NCsoft as part of Winner's Contest entry, as set forth on Exhibit A attached hereto (collectively, the "Submission").
WHEREAS, Winner agreed as part of the Contest Rules to assign all of the right, title, and interest in and to the Submission to NCsoft.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration the receipt and sufficiency of each which is hereby acknowledged, NCsoft and Winner do hereby agree as follows:

Publicity and Liability Release. Winner hereby gives NCsoft and its divisions, subsidiaries, affiliates, and agencies full permission, right and authority to use Winner's likeness, photograph, name, hometown, and any comments Winner may make/answer to questions NCsoft may provide, or any other information that Winner provides about himself/herself, the prize, the Contest, or City of Heroes®, for the purposes of advertising and promotion (in any media, including but not limited to in print media, television, film, video, radio, internet or otherwise) related to the Contest, City of Heroes® or NCsoft itself, without any further notification or compensation to Winner other than that set out herein. Winner waives all rights of inspection and approval in relation to the foregoing. Winner hereby further releases NCsoft from any and all liability arising out of the exercise of the rights granted in this release, unless NCsoft itself caused the liability by gross negligence or intent. Winner warrants that he/she is fully authorized to grant the rights granted in this section. Winner understands that NCsoft will rely on the contents of this section. You may exercise your rights of access and rectification to your personal information by writing to cohcontests@ncsoft.com.

Eligibility. To be eligible to win designated prize, Winner understands that he/she (a) must be 13 years of age or older, (b) if he/she is a minor in his/her country of residence, he/she must provide the entry as set forth under 1.1 with his/her legal guardian's approval and he/she must provide written approval of his/her entry to the Contest, and consent to these Official Rules and Conditions by his/her legal guardian (this written approval shall be provided within 14 days after the receipt of request by the Sponsor), (c) Winner must have Internet access, an email account and access to a personal computer, and (d) he/she must be a resident of the United States (excluding the State of Rhode Island, and excluding Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, military installations and commonwealths), Canada (excluding Quebec) (Canadian residents will be required to answer an additional mathematical question in order to claim their prizes), or the United Kingdom. Winner hereby agrees to complete the form set forth as Exhibit B attached hereto.

Release. NCsoft and its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies and all of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, successors and assigns are not in any way responsible or liable for damages, loss or injury resulting from Winner's participation in the Contest or acceptance, loss or use of any prizes awarded as a result of Winner's participation in the Contest. Winner further agrees that in any cause of action, NCsoft's liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Contest, and in no event shall NCsoft be liable for attorney's fees. I waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages. Nothing in this Assignment shall limit or exclude NCsoft's liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

Assignment. Subject to Section 6, Winner hereby assigns, transfer and convey unto NCsoft its entire right, title and interest in and to the Submission and all Intellectual Property Rights related thereto to the fullest extent permitted by law. For the purposes of this Assignment, "Intellectual Property Rights" shall mean (i) patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trade marks, trade names and domain names, rights in get-up, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights and any other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which may now or in the future subsist in any part of the world; (ii) the right to display the Submission on any of NCsoft's websites, make it available for download and to modify the Submission; (iii) the Submission's language, its environment, its media storage or installation, comprising all economical rights of the Submission including, the reproduction right and its divisions, such as the right to use, adapt and transpose the Submission, the right of public performance and use of the Submission, the distribution, interfacing and integration of the Submission into NCsoft's own range of products or third parties' products, for any platform whatsoever, to produce and to market the Submission through various channels on any medium, including licensing or resale, including commercial use, distribution by downloading, or any distribution process that allows the Submission or its adaptations, in whatever form, to be delivered to the public, e.g. in any printed form (including magazines, newspapers, T-shirts or any other textiles, documentation, mugs), on any tangible storage (including diskette, hard disk, optical disc, Blu-Ray, DVD, CD-ROM, Flash memory cards, any electronic media).

Waiver of Moral Rights. Subject to Section 6, Winner hereby irrevocably waives all of his/her moral rights and rights of a similar nature whether now existing or hereafter conferred under the laws of any jurisdiction in the Submission, to the fullest extent permissible by law, and shall not institute, support or maintain any action on the ground that any use by NCsoft constitutes an infringement of any moral rights or similar rights.

To the extent any applicable legal system does not accept the concept of "work-made-for-hire", the transfer of the copyright itself and/or moral rights themselves, Winner hereby transfers, conveys and assigns to NCsoft any and all Intellectual Property Rights, aside from the copyright itself and the moral rights themselves, in and to the Submission, including but not limited to any and all derivative works, and the rights for the worldwide exploitation and utilization in all known and unknown types of media and for all known or unknown kinds of use. Insofar as the aforesaid transfer may not be feasible by law, Winner hereby grants to NCsoft at least an exclusive worldwide perpetual right and license in and to the aforesaid rights for any and all types of use whether known or yet to be determined for an overall exploitation and utilization in any modality, through any sales channel and in any technical specification. As far as the moral rights are concerned NCsoft may not make use of the moral rights of Winner in any way that is considered unreasonable.

Further Acts. Winner hereby undertakes to execute all documents and give all assistance and do all acts and things, at the expense of NCsoft as may, in the opinion of NCsoft, be necessary or desirable to vest the Intellectual Property Rights in and otherwise to protect and maintain the Intellectual Property Rights in and to the Submission. Such cooperation by the Winner shall include prompt production of pertinent facts and documents, giving of testimony, execution of petitions, oaths, specifications, declarations or other papers, and other assistance all to the extent deemed necessary or desirable by the parties for perfecting in NCsoft the right, title and interest herein conveyed.

Warranty. Winner represents and warrants to NCsoft that Winner (i) is the sole owner of all rights, title and interest in the Submission and the Intellectual Property Rights embodied therein, (ii) has not assigned, transferred, licensed, pledged or otherwise encumbered the Submission or any Intellectual Property Rights embodied therein or agreed to do so, (iii) has full power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to make the assignment as provided in Section 3, (iv) is not aware of any violation, infringement or misappropriation of any third party's rights (or any claim thereof) by the Submission or the expected use by NCsoft thereof, and (v) was not acting within the scope of employment by any third party when conceiving, creating or otherwise performing any activity with respect to anything purportedly assigned in Section 3.

No Amendment. This Assignment may not be varied, altered, amended or supplemented, nor may any of its provisions be waived, except by a writing duly executed by Winner and NCsoft.

Assignment. The terms and covenants of this Assignment shall inure to the benefit of NCsoft, its successors, assigns and other legal representatives, and shall be binding upon the Winner, its successors, assigns and other legal representatives.

Governing Law. This Assignment is entered into under, and shall be governed for all purposes by, the internal laws of the State of Washington as if made and entered into between two residents of that state. In any action or proceeding to enforce rights under this Assignment, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover costs and attorneys' fees.

Acknowledgment. The parties hereby acknowledge that they have read this Assignment and knowingly and willingly agree to be bound by its terms and conditions.

Counterparts. This Assignment may be executed simultaneously in several counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument. Facsimile signatures shall be valid and binding upon the signing party.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The NCsoft and Winner have executed this Assignment as of the date set forth above.

Neither I, nor any member of my immediate family or household, is an employee of NCsoft or any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, or promotional or publicity agencies.

I certify that the above information is true, and I accept the prize subject to all terms of the Contest Rules, which I have read in full. I represent that I have complied with all the rules and that I have perpetrated no fraud or deception in entering the Contest or in claiming the prize.

I grant NCsoft the worldwide right to use, publish and display my name on the Official City of Heroes® Web Site (www.cityofheroes.com; http://eu.cityofheroes.com/en/) in connection with this contest without any further notification or compensation of any kind.
[ ] MARK THIS BOX WITH AN "X" to show you have read and agree to #'s 2, 3 4, above.